A pickup truck is a light motor vehicle with an open-top, rear cargo area called a bed. The bed is generally open, configured for versatility, and includes a short box formed of four walls that surround the base of the bed. However, for greater versatility, one might install a truck rack to carry cargo above the bed. A truck rack may be adapted to carry large materials and equipment, with examples including building materials, lumber, pipes, ladders, and boats. Truck racks are coupled to the truck bed, typically at the top of the bed rails.
Trucks may include a tonneau cover to cover and secure the box of the truck. Tonneau covers are hard or soft coverings that extend horizontally across the top of the box, typically spanning the entire space between the top of the walls of the box. Tonneau covers may be rigid structures that effectively turn the box into a large trunk. Such configurations typically open from the rear of the truck and are supported by gas struts due to the weight of the cover.
Further, trucks may include a truck cap, sometimes called a truck canopy or a truck shell. Similar to tonneau covers, truck caps cover the bed of the truck. However, truck caps generally are configured to enclose a space above the box of the truck and commonly are designed to form an exterior that is the same height as the cab of the truck. Truck caps typically are rigid structures coupled to the top of the box and may include a rear door above the rear of the box (e.g., above the tailgate of the truck).
Trucks also may accommodate a truck bed tent, a tent configured to provide a temporary living space within the bed of the truck. Truck bed tents use the bed of the truck as the floor of the tent (though some truck bed tents may include a fabric liner over the truck bed) and enclose a vertical space generally above the truck bed. Other than being configured to fit the bed of a truck, truck bed tents are similar to ordinary tents for camping. Unlike truck racks, tonneau covers, and truck caps, truck bed tents are not configured for use or deployment while the truck is in motion.
Though each of a truck rack, a tonneau cover, a truck cap, and a truck bed tent add versatility to a truck, none are adapted to provide open rack space, concealed trunk space, enclosed cargo space, and/or living space at the discretion of the operator.